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I've drawn for nearly a decade and I've
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been in art school for almost 2 years
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and these are the 25 most effective
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exercises that have changed my art from
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this to this and I think they'll help
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you too these exercises have been
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directly taken from professionals like
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Peter Han Tom Fox draws Steven Hampton
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Antonio from marwad and Kim jungi and
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they've been separated into five levels
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to make it easy to progress from levels
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1 to 5 so without further Ado let's get
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into exercise number one starting at
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level one exercise one we're going to do
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curved and straight lines these are the
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absolute Basics to get your hand
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cooperating with your mind you want to
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draw three sets of lines one using your
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wrist the next using your elbow and the
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last using your whole arm go over each
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of them eight times and this will train
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your hand eye coordination as well as
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your muscle memory this one is
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recommended by Peter Han in his book the
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dynamic Bible number two Point
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coordination put a point on your paper
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and draw a straight line through it
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starting on one side of the dot and
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ending on the other the further away you
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start from the dot the more difficult it
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is make sure your lines are straight and
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cut through the dot this exercise is
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meant to train your hand ey cordination
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as well as getting you used to drawing
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with your shoulder exercise three
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flattening planes draw a progressing
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series of squares starting from a
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straight line and turning inward until
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you reach the flat facing Square then
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rotating away until the square becomes
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flat again then do the same thing with a
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circle if you're uncomfortable doing
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this with the circle begin with the
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square and you can fit your circle into
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the square you might have a question how
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do I match the ellipse to the degree of
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the square that's going to be shown
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later in the video at level three
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exercise number four parallel ellipses
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draw a straight line and draw ellipses
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that are centered by that straight line
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the ellipses can be varying in size just
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make sure that they're perpendicular to
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the line these exercises are critical in
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observational drawings like these vases
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or even these fish exercise number five
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ribbons draw a random curvy line
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somewhere on your page and then repeat
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that same line and connect them with
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parallel lines the exercise here is to
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get used to repeating the same line as
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well as seeing depth on the page without
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the need for a perspective grid okay
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that's it for level one that should get
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your hand on the same page as your eyes
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as we move on to level two where we're
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doing more cognitive abstract
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imagination if you're fairly new to
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drawing I'd recommend doing this every
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day only for about 5 to 10 minutes just
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to get your muscle memory activated and
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quickly have your hand on the same page
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as your eye exercise number six
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Extrusion similar to the ribbon draw a
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shape and then repeat that shape
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Elsewhere on the page and connect them
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with lines the further you draw your
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shape the more depth your object is
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going to have if you're having trouble
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thinking thinking of shapes start simple
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think of a simple Square think of a
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trapezoid a rhombus a diamond shape and
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as you get more advanced you can do
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letters exercise number seven box
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stacking draw boxes that feel like
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they're stacked on top of one another
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you can draw them uniform but as you get
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more comfortable try to rotate them in
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different directions and expand the
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scope of your scene if you're new to
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this exercise you want to draw through
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your boxes with construction lines so
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that you can really visualize the space
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that these boxes are taking up exercise
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number eight cylinders draw a bunch of
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cylinders stacked together or going back
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in space imagine a snake cut in half and
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think about how the volumes would look
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with these basic volume exercises the
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goal is to get to a level where you
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don't need a perspective grid to
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visualize these you're probably not
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going to start out this way so feel free
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to use as much construction as you want
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in the beginning but really try to think
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through these objects and always imagine
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that you are actually seeing these
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objects the best metaphor I've ever
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heard for perspective is to imagine that
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your piece of paper is just a window and
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what you're seeing in the paper is just
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the other side of a world that you're
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looking directly at you want your
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objects to feel like they have a solid
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mass now obviously that's easier said
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than done if you can't yet visualize
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forms stack together then continue
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watching the video because there are
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some exercises that specifically Target
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that exercise number nine this one is
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also from Peter Han its organic forms
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create a random blob like shape and draw
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a line through it this line is the
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center line of the shape and create
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Contours around the blob to give it a
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sense of
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three-dimensionality you want to be
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unique without being too complicated
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here
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the goal of this exercise is to gain a
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sense of form from a 2d shape you want
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to be able to draw a shape and visualize
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how Contours might give it some depth if
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you want to take this one step further
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you could shade the form as a bonus or
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create branching forms to ramp up the
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complexity and exercise number 10 is an
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exercise from zeff draws who is a
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fantastic illustrator and also on
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YouTube so check him out after this
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video and the exercise is stacking and
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queuing draw a series of forms lined up
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in space going vertically and
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horizontally imagine how the perspective
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would shift as they go from the left
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side of your vision to the right and
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from the bottom of your vision to the
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top the point of this exercise is to
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develop your sense of intuitive space
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obviously once again this is going to be
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a really difficult exercise to do
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without construction if you've never
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done it before so so take what you know
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about the basics of onepoint perspective
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and apply the perspective grid to the
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forms and attempt to build out your
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forms with the grid now you will
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inevitably come across some confusions
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and the grids are not going to perfectly
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fit the forms you see my recommendation
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is to start by copying the artists that
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you love so for example copy the
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drawings I'm doing right now or copy the
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drawings from Ze Straw's YouTube channel
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by the way all the artists who are
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referenced in this video will be linked
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down below so you could go look at their
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work for yourself I highly recommend it
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they're professional I'm not so take
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everything I'm saying with a grain of
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salt and check out the original stuff
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while you're down there if you don't
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mind leaving a like that would be
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fantastic and super helpful for me to
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continue doing this thank you guys let's
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get to level three level three is about
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manipulating the basic forms that we've
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been practicing at level two and getting
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into some rendering so we can represent
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the World As It Seems this next exercise
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is the most important one in this list
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without this your ability to draw from
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imagination is shot and that's the cube
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grid by cren cushart here is the
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original that you guys have asked about
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and you can reference this but here is
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me demonstrating how it's
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done this is the most important exercise
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to being able to draw from imagination
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because all a cube is is the most basic
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representation of a unit of space so if
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you don't understand how to visualize a
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cube from any angle you don't understand
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how to visualize a unit of space from
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every angle therefore you're never going
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to be able to represent anything more
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complex if you can't draw a cube in any
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angle you won't be able to draw a head
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in any angle at least not from
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imagination so if you're going to
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practice anything in this video please
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make sure it's the cube grid exercise
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number 12 rotation draw the basic forms
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in rotation you want each drawing to
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feel like a sequence from the last
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drawing and ideally they're rotating
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along a single axis this will take a
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little bit of getting used to but the
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point of these exercises is not to get
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it perfect it's to do them to build your
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ability to visualize in space so the
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more you can do them the better you're
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going to draw once rotating the basic
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forms gets easy try to rotate certain
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letters start with a t or then maybe go
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on to a Q and you'll notice that the
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complexity builds as well exercise
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number 13 is bending take a basic form
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and bend it forward and backwards try to
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twist it what's going to make or break
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the believability of your bending here
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is overlap make sure you're very aware
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of the overlap as you're drawing these
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forms because that is the only way we
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can convey depth with a line once again
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this is a major topic that Steven
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Hampton covers in his figure drawing
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books which will once again be linked
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down below exercise number 14 is
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addition create a unique form by adding
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other forms to it this can be a cylinder
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added to a cube or a sphere added to a
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cylinder the idea is to take the basic
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forms that you should now be comfortable
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with and combine them together to create
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new and unique forms to reinforce your
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understanding rotate these forms and
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draw them from multiple different angles
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you could also look at basic household
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objects for inspiration in this case
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exercise number 15 flat textures at this
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level we have a solid foundation of form
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but we want to now get into rendering
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but before we can apply textures or
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rendering to a volume we need to know
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how that texture looks flat so that's
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where flat texturing comes into the
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picture start simple with basic hatching
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the idea is to go from a completely dark
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value to a completely light value once
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you've done that with hatching move on
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to cross-hatching then move on to
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patterns or textiles as you get
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comfortable texturing build complexity
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by going into scales or fur there's a
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whole wealth of things you could
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reference just looking around my room I
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see a wood texture I see a corkboard
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texture I see uh a a fur texture you can
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reference all sorts of textures and
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attempt to draw them as a gradient for
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more information on that check out Peter
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Han because this is again where this
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exercise comes from it's absolutely
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critical to rendering anything past a
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basic volume at level four we're getting
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a bit more complex exercise 16 is the
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three box figure we want to capture the
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human body in terms of the three major
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masses the head the rib cage and the
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pelvis your goal is to get comfortable
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representing these masses in any pose
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that you'd like by simplifying these
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masses into basic boxes you can
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visualize how they would twist and bend
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without needing reference or an image to
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follow this is your first step into
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drawing people from imagination the aim
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is to push the posing to really sell the
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orientation of the pelvis chest and head
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you can use sticks for the arms and legs
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and emphasize the joints with blocks to
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go further with this exercise ditch the
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reference and draw these poses from your
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imagination exercise 17 subtraction this
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one is more difficult because you have
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to visualize a lot more than you would
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in other form manipulations like
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addition my best advice here is to start
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Simple Start by subtracting a cube from
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a cube or a rectangular prism against
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another rectangular prism things start
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to get complicated when you have to
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visualize what curved surfaces react to
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other curved surfaces for example the a
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sphere being taken away from a cube is a
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lot more difficult than a cube being
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taken away from a cube so start simple
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until the basics get boring start with
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construction and once you're used to
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that try to go into visualizing
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subtractions without construction
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exercise number 8 18 is perspective
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clusters draw an amalgamation of random
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forms in a believable space using
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everything you've learned so far about
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addition subtraction and Extrusion try
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to combine them try to vary them in size
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and shape and orientation have some
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objects going towards you have some
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objects going away from you overall just
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try to create a believable sense of
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forms without necessarily having them
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mean anything number 19 volume mapping
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this is where we take the flat textures
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we practiced in level three and apply
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them to an organic form that we
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practiced in level two by combining
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these two we're starting to give volume
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and texture to an object you can use
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this skill to render a mammal with fur
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or even give a character tattoos that
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wrap around their arm this is the
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foundation of rendering volumes
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believably and exercise 20 is to take a
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drawing from a master that you admire
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that could be Kim jongi in this case
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it's kimdong ho and copy their drawing
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learn from their line work learn from
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their use of form their use of shapes
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and by doing this study you're going to
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learn how to do it right before doing it
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for yourself and that brings us to level
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five this stage is by no means basic all
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these excises take an understanding of
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all the previous exercises from before
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as well as a well-developed sense of
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space exercise number 21 builds upon the
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three box figures that we were working
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on in level four by fleshing them out
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into full-blown mannequins this time
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instead of representing the limbs
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through simple lines we're you're going
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to represent them with more accurate
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volumes the idea is that you start with
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references and as you get more
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comfortable you draw these mannequins
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from your imagination if you want to go
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more complex with this exercise have
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them interacting in space or reacting to
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one another exercise number 22 is to
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draw an object of reference from a
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different angle than what is being
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observed this will train your brain to
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register your reference as a
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three-dimensional form instead of simply
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an image and you're going to have to do
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the work of rotating it inside your head
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and understanding what it might look
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like from another angle this ability is
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what Kim jungi had built intuitively and
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is why he was able to draw anything he
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wanted from any angle you could look
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around your room and just pick an object
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to draw or you could go online to find
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reference and draw that reference from a
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different angle exercise number 23 is a
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point of view drawing if you want to
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draw from your imagination it is crucial
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that you understand how space works and
00:15:32
that's why this exercise is so important
00:15:35
it's no coincidence that Kim jungi has
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hundreds of these drawings rbert montal
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has hundreds of these drawings and Dong
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H Kim who we've previously looked at has
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done hundreds of these as well if you
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are unsure how to go about doing this I
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would start by doing a master copy of
00:15:55
any of the artists previously mentioned
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Paul haston is one to check out as well
00:16:00
because he specializes in doing this
00:16:02
this exercise builds your sense of space
00:16:05
as it is observed in real life rather
00:16:07
than thinking in one point two point
00:16:09
three point you understand space
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intuitively and your sense of
00:16:13
perspective is freed up to draw things
00:16:17
as you would want to see them instead of
00:16:19
being stuck to a formula exercise number
00:16:23
24 defined Kim jong's upbringing and
00:16:26
very much led to the artist he was today
00:16:29
according to
00:16:38
himself and that is the daily highlight
00:16:42
recount your day and pick a highlight
00:16:45
and then attempt to draw it this
00:16:47
exercise is so useful because it
00:16:51
integrates all the previous exercises
00:16:54
we've mentioned from spatial drawing to
00:16:56
basic forms but even more in that it
00:16:59
incorporates storytelling techniques it
00:17:02
makes you have to draw an illustration
00:17:06
from your imagination and because it's
00:17:08
so difficult it is also so helpful if
00:17:12
you can get over the frustration of
00:17:14
making ugly pieces consistently then
00:17:17
this is one that will unlock your
00:17:19
ability to draw whatever you want and
00:17:21
finally we have exercise number 25
00:17:26
another one recommended by Kim Jung at
00:17:28
this stage he was only one given this
00:17:30
level of complex exercises but the final
00:17:34
exercise is the comic book similar to
00:17:37
The Daily drawing take a random story or
00:17:41
design a room and draw several shots
00:17:44
visualizing different areas of the room
00:17:47
while consistently maintaining the forms
00:17:50
that have been established if you can do
00:17:52
this you are building your ability to
00:17:55
not only tell stories but to design and
00:18:00
create concept work on the Fly there's a
00:18:03
reason that this exercise is the last
00:18:05
one because it is the hardest one not
00:18:07
only are you designing a story on the
00:18:09
Fly you have to maintain consistent
00:18:11
volumes you have to visualize several
00:18:14
different shots and all the while do it
00:18:17
without reference and preferably without
00:18:20
construction lines as you're starting
00:18:22
these exercises of course you're going
00:18:24
to need those but the aim is to get to a
00:18:27
level where you can do all these
00:18:28
exercises without a ruler and without
00:18:30
construction Lines by the time you're at
00:18:33
that level then you will have no
00:18:34
struggles drawing what you see but what
00:18:36
about implementation how should you be
00:18:39
implementing these exercises is there a
00:18:41
specific way I'd recommend well the way
00:18:43
this was designed is for it to be a
00:18:45
ladder you can climb I'd recommend
00:18:47
starting at level one every day and
00:18:50
doing the basic warm-ups and then going
00:18:52
to level two and building your ability
00:18:55
to draw the basic forms most people
00:18:58
don't won spend enough time at level two
00:19:00
myself included and having practiced
00:19:03
just level two and three exercises I
00:19:06
think most of you guys will see drastic
00:19:07
improvements as I personally have for
00:19:10
myself I'd spend probably 30 minutes
00:19:12
every day warming up with level one two
00:19:15
and three exercises and the idea is to
00:19:19
let's say you do a level two exercise
00:19:22
until it gets boring then go to a
00:19:24
different exercise in level two until
00:19:26
that gets boring then go to the next one
00:19:28
Bal bounce laterally across all the
00:19:30
levels until each of them are able to be
00:19:32
done without construction grids and you
00:19:35
can visualize them in your mind and then
00:19:37
progress on to level three and then
00:19:39
level four that's my recommendation but
00:19:41
as long as you're doing some of these
00:19:42
exercises somewhat regularly I think you
00:19:45
will see consistent Improvement anyway I
00:19:47
hope you guys learn as much from these
00:19:49
exercises as I have I'll see you next
00:19:51
video
